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Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.10. Summary of expenditures for public elementary and secondary education and other related programs, by purpose: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2016-17
School year Total expenditures Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education Current expenditures for other programs1 Capital outlay2 Interest on school debt
Total Adminis- tration Instruction Plant operation Plant main- tenance Fixed charges Other school services3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  Amounts in thousands of current dollars
1919-20 $1,036,151 $861,120 $36,752   $632,556   $115,707   $30,432 $9,286 $36,387   $3,277 $153,543 $18,212
1929-30 2,316,790 1,843,552 78,680   1,317,727   216,072   78,810 50,270 101,993   9,825 370,878 92,536
1939-40 2,344,049 1,941,799 91,571   1,403,285   194,365   73,321 50,116 129,141   13,367 257,974 130,909
1949-50 5,837,643 4,687,274 220,050   3,112,340   427,587   214,164 261,469 451,663   35,614 1,014,176 100,578
1959-60 15,613,254 12,329,388 528,408   8,350,738   1,085,036   422,586 909,323 1,033,297   132,566 2,661,786 489,514
                               
1969-70 40,683,429 34,217,773 1,606,646   23,270,158   2,537,257   974,941 3,266,920 2,561,856   635,803 4,659,072 1,170,782
1979-80 95,961,561 86,984,142 4,263,757   53,257,937   9,744,785   (4) 11,793,934 7,923,729   597,585 6,506,167 1,873,666
1989-90 212,769,564 188,229,359 16,346,991 5 113,550,405 5 20,261,415 5 (4) --- 38,070,548 5 2,982,543 17,781,342 3,776,321
1999-2000 381,838,155 323,888,508 25,079,298 5 199,968,138 5 31,190,295 5 (4) --- 67,650,776 5 5,457,015 43,357,186 9,135,445
2000-01 410,811,185 348,360,841 26,689,182 5 214,333,003 5 34,034,158 5 (4) --- 73,304,498 5 6,063,700 46,220,704 10,165,940
                               
2006-07 562,194,807 476,814,206 36,213,814 5 290,678,482 5 46,828,916 5 (4) --- 103,092,995 5 7,804,253 62,863,465 14,712,882
2007-08 597,313,726 506,884,219 38,203,341 5 308,238,664 5 49,362,661 5 (4) --- 111,079,554 5 8,307,720 66,426,299 15,695,488
2008-09 610,326,007 518,922,842 38,811,325 5 316,075,710 5 50,559,027 5 (4) --- 113,476,779 5 8,463,793 65,890,367 17,049,004
2009-10 607,018,292 524,715,242 38,972,700 5 321,213,401 5 50,023,919 5 (4) --- 114,505,223 5 8,355,761 56,714,992 17,232,297
2010-11 604,355,852 527,291,339 39,154,833 5 322,536,983 5 50,214,709 5 (4) --- 115,384,813 5 8,161,474 50,968,815 17,934,224
                               
2011-12 601,993,584 527,207,246 39,491,926 5 320,994,474 5 49,834,165 5 (4) --- 116,886,681 5 8,188,640 48,793,436 17,804,262
2012-13 606,813,352 535,795,823 40,349,598 5 325,682,380 5 50,674,499 5 (4) --- 119,089,346 5 8,031,416 45,720,570 17,265,542
2013-14 625,018,277 553,501,209 41,538,042 5 336,426,927 5 53,051,141 5 (4) --- 122,485,100 5 7,926,285 46,438,323 17,152,459
2014-15 651,135,383 575,331,825 43,328,198 5 349,453,258 5 54,200,172 5 (4) --- 128,350,197 5 7,713,966 50,610,125 17,479,466
2015-16 677,605,095 596,201,554 45,252,877 5 363,106,915 5 55,045,039 5 (4) --- 132,796,722 5 7,913,839 55,989,128 17,500,574
2016-17 707,601,350 619,164,572 46,874,132 5 376,069,486 5 57,433,468 5 (4) --- 138,787,485 5 8,660,874 61,441,963 18,333,942
  Amounts in thousands of constant 2018-19 dollars6
1919-20 $13,769,750 $11,443,706 $488,409   $8,406,244   $1,537,668   $404,421 $123,405 $483,559   $43,549 $2,040,483 $242,025
1929-30 34,279,884 27,277,720 1,164,172   19,497,463   3,197,063   1,166,095 743,809 1,509,117   145,373 5,487,616 1,369,189
1939-40 42,481,045 35,191,095 1,659,535   25,431,641   3,522,464   1,328,792 908,249 2,340,414   242,249 4,675,246 2,372,455
1949-50 62,428,247 50,126,093 2,353,233   33,283,627   4,572,651   2,290,288 2,796,172 4,830,122   380,859 10,845,684 1,075,590
1959-60 134,579,097 106,273,677 4,554,635   71,979,536   9,352,513   3,642,498 7,837,948 8,906,547   1,142,658 22,943,376 4,219,386
                               
1969-70 272,767,987 229,418,086 10,771,993   156,018,170   17,011,410   6,536,634 21,903,542 17,176,337   4,262,834 31,237,428 7,849,679
1979-80 313,062,649 283,774,937 13,909,977   173,747,391   31,791,148   (4) 38,476,242 25,850,180   1,949,547 21,225,560 6,112,602
1989-90 424,396,314 375,447,713 32,606,180 5 226,490,915 5 40,414,003 5 (4) --- 75,936,614 5 5,949,066 35,467,178 7,532,359
1999-2000 571,246,047 484,550,921 37,519,692 5 299,160,801 5 46,662,001 5 (4) --- 101,208,425 5 8,163,926 64,864,187 13,667,013
2000-01 594,232,331 503,898,830 38,605,508 5 310,029,533 5 49,229,909 5 (4) --- 106,033,877 5 8,771,053 66,857,568 14,704,882
                               
2006-07 697,498,527 591,569,332 44,929,412 5 360,636,225 5 58,099,255 5 (4) --- 127,904,440 5 9,682,507 77,992,848 18,253,840
2007-08 714,591,514 606,406,895 45,704,263 5 368,758,868 5 59,054,626 5 (4) --- 132,889,139 5 9,938,874 79,468,573 18,777,172
2008-09 720,103,826 612,260,201 45,792,222 5 372,927,461 5 59,652,954 5 (4) --- 133,887,565 5 9,986,155 77,741,904 20,115,566
2009-10 709,337,711 613,161,603 45,541,965 5 375,357,351 5 58,455,985 5 (4) --- 133,806,302 5 9,764,214 66,274,909 20,136,985
2010-11 692,324,731 604,042,855 44,854,135 5 369,484,848 5 57,523,866 5 (4) --- 132,180,006 5 9,349,442 58,387,738 20,544,696
                               
2011-12 669,987,525 586,754,223 43,952,458 5 357,250,142 5 55,462,831 5 (4) --- 130,088,792 5 9,113,530 54,304,555 19,815,217
2012-13 664,296,846 586,551,819 44,171,920 5 356,534,307 5 55,474,900 5 (4) --- 130,370,693 5 8,792,233 50,051,685 18,901,109
2013-14 673,702,276 596,614,592 44,773,528 5 362,631,933 5 57,183,406 5 (4) --- 132,025,724 5 8,543,681 50,055,503 18,488,500
2014-15 696,779,814 615,662,446 46,365,494 5 373,949,847 5 57,999,590 5 (4) --- 137,347,514 5 8,254,713 54,157,883 18,704,773
2015-16 720,248,149 633,721,719 48,100,732 5 385,957,965 5 58,509,134 5 (4) --- 141,153,887 5 8,411,873 59,512,637 18,601,920
2016-17 738,546,661 646,242,305 48,924,064 5 392,516,017 5 59,945,188 5 (4) --- 144,857,035 5 9,039,637 64,128,985 19,135,734
  Percentage distribution
1919-20 100.0 83.1 3.5   61.0   11.2   2.9 0.9 3.5   0.3 14.8 1.8
1929-30 100.0 79.6 3.4   56.9   9.3   3.4 2.2 4.4   0.4 16.0 4.0
1939-40 100.0 82.8 3.9   59.9   8.3   3.1 2.1 5.5   0.6 11.0 5.6
1949-50 100.0 80.3 3.8   53.3   7.3   3.7 4.5 7.7   0.6 17.4 1.7
1959-60 100.0 79.0 3.4   53.5   6.9   2.7 5.8 6.6   0.8 17.0 3.1
                               
1969-70 100.0 84.1 3.9   57.2   6.2   2.4 8.0 6.3   1.6 11.5 2.9
1979-80 100.0 90.6 4.4   55.5   10.2   (4) 12.3 8.3   0.6 6.8 2.0
1989-90 100.0 88.5 7.7 5 53.4 5 9.5 5 (4) --- 17.9 5 1.4 8.4 1.8
1999-2000 100.0 84.8 6.6 5 52.4 5 8.2 5 (4) --- 17.7 5 1.4 11.4 2.4
2000-01 100.0 84.8 6.5 5 52.2 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 17.8 5 1.5 11.3 2.5
                               
2006-07 100.0 84.8 6.4 5 51.7 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 18.3 5 1.4 11.2 2.6
2007-08 100.0 84.9 6.4 5 51.6 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 18.6 5 1.4 11.1 2.6
2008-09 100.0 85.0 6.4 5 51.8 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 18.6 5 1.4 10.8 2.8
2009-10 100.0 86.4 6.4 5 52.9 5 8.2 5 (4) --- 18.9 5 1.4 9.3 2.8
2010-11 100.0 87.2 6.5 5 53.4 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 19.1 5 1.4 8.4 3.0
                               
2011-12 100.0 87.6 6.6 5 53.3 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 19.4 5 1.4 8.1 3.0
2012-13 100.0 88.3 6.6 5 53.7 5 8.4 5 (4) --- 19.6 5 1.3 7.5 2.8
2013-14 100.0 88.6 6.6 5 53.8 5 8.5 5 (4) --- 19.6 5 1.3 7.4 2.7
2014-15 100.0 88.4 6.7 5 53.7 5 8.3 5 (4) --- 19.7 5 1.2 7.8 2.7
2015-16 100.0 88.0 6.7 5 53.6 5 8.1 5 (4) --- 19.6 5 1.2 8.3 2.6
2016-17 100.0 87.5 6.6 5 53.1 5 8.1 5 (4) --- 19.6 5 1.2 8.7 2.6
---Not available.
1 Includes expenditures for summer schools, adult education, community colleges, and community services.
2 Prior to 1969-70, excludes capital outlay by state and local school housing authorities.
3 Prior to 1959-60, items included under "other school services" were listed under "auxiliary services," a more comprehensive classification that also included community services.
4 Plant operation also includes plant maintenance.
5 Data not comparable to figures prior to 1989-90.
6 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Beginning in 1959-60, includes Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning in 1989-90, state administration expenditures were excluded from both "total" and "current" expenditures. Beginning in 1989-90, extensive changes were made in the data collection procedures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1959-60 and 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1979-80; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2016-17. (This table was prepared August 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest